Tamsin

What I do...

I am a Graduate Dealer based in Wellington, in Investor Sales, Wholesale Banking. I did a BCom at Otago University majoring in Economics and a BA at Massey University majoring in History. I previously rowed fulltime for four years in Cambridge (NZ) , and worked at NZX in a regulatory role before starting at BNZ. I wanted to get into markets and BNZ offered a specialised Markets Grad programme. It is tailored to your individual requirements, and is also very self-driven and open to your input and ideas; you can really drive your own progress.

There are various directions possible in the Dealing room (eg. FX or Rates) and different roles within those such as Sales, Trading or Research. Markets is a fascinating place to work because it is an ever changing combination of economic, political and global influences changing the sentiment and direction of the market. It is also interesting getting to know clients from a broad spectrum of sectors, all with different mandates and business activities.

My typical work day...

A typical day for me:

7.45am: Arrive at work and begin catching up on overnight offshore moves

8.00am: Our economists, strategists and traders give an economic briefing. They outline what happened overnight, what expectations they have for the direction of the domestic market and where resistance or support may lie, their thoughts on upcoming data releases, trade ideas, client flows and general views, observations or thoughts.

8.30am: We would then touch base with bigger clients in the morning and inform them of our views as well as send out commentaries and indicative pricing sheets.

The rest of the day can be quite varied, but a lot of it is spent on the desk dealing with client flows for cash, bonds and derivatives and working on trade ideas and deals with clients. There are normally a few data releases during the day, as well as the opening of the Australian and Asian markets. If these are market moving then you would immediately be on the phone to update your clients, especially if it presented an opportunity they were looking for. When we are working on a new primary bond issue, we would also be constantly collating investor feedback and working on pricing and volumes for the bookbuild.

In amongst this, you might have a client visit or investor presentation to attend, a seminar or workshop, spend an hour sitting with another desk in the room learning about what they do and the products they use, or else there is always heaps to read! Towards the end of the day your team might have a general catch up about various clients and their intentions, deals or ideas in the pipeline, and opportunities that might arise from pricing and curve movements. In amongst this I try to get outside for a run at some point too!

What I like about working for BNZ...

Fun, varied & interesting. It has been a fantastic and exciting learning experience. The dealing room is a very fun place to work with a great buzz, and given all of the volatility and numerous international events of the past 18 months, the content of the work has been highly varied and very interesting. The room also has a very horizontal structure, and because the teams are pretty small you quickly start helping out and are given roles and responsibility.

Dealing with clients. I enjoy meeting clients and learning about their businesses and differing objectives, and how you can help hedge their risk with the various markets products. I like that my role is very client orientated and offers the chance to interact and build relationships with clients, as well as learning about their respective businesses.

Mentorship. Working in the BNZ Dealing Room has been awesome because there are so many experienced people in the room willing to teach you and happy to give you roles and responsibility.